Story Nine: Sleep of the Black Sand
by SpelCastrMax
Summary: The true mystery begins when Mamluks are found in the palace.


STORY NINE: Sleep of the Black Sand  
  
Disclaimer:   
Author's Note: These are the characters you will be unfamiliar with.   
Kalil: The adventuresome seventeen year old Prince of Agrabah who tries constantly to prove his worth. He inherited his mother's temper and his father's cunning. (If you can't tell, he's my favorite of these three...though I don't know why)  
  
Almira: Agrabah's daring princess who (in true fourteen year old style) cares more about clothes than politics. She's in no hurry to marry, but she doesn't mind falling in love as often as possible.  
  
Celeste Nomad: A sixteen year old girl with amnesia who has been deemed a permanent resident of the palace since she made the conscious choice not to go back to her own century. She's confused much of the time, but instead of being left behind, she joins in every adventure.  
  
Story 8: A magical being in search of performing good deeds turned Agrabah upside down and granted Kal a wish he desperately wanted to take back.  
Mira heard a shuffling noise and low grunts in the hallway. "Very funny," she muttered in her sleep, "I'm not falling for it." The moaning continued. "You aren't funny, Kal, now stop it!" The princess sat up when she heard another noise. She climbed out of bed and opened her door. "Stop trying to scare me or I'm..." Her eyes met with the owners of the noise. Three green zombies were dragging themselves through the halls. The girl screamed, "Father!"  
  
Aladdin, Jasmine, Kal, and Genie ran into the corridor to be met with the undead guards. Mira ran from her room to meet the group.  
  
"What are they?" Kalil breathed as he noticed the shocked expressions on the faces of his parents.  
  
"It can't be," Jasmine said with confusion.  
  
Genie's eyes bugged out of his head. "NO WAY!" he shouted.  
  
"Mamluks." That was the only word that came from Aladdin's mouth before he jumped at the undead army.  
  
Kal's eyes also widened. "Wait, I thought those were just a story."  
  
Jasmine ran to help her husband, calling over her shoulder, "Since when has anything we've told you been just a story?"  
  
Genie turned into Stephen King and began shouting, "Escapees" and slammed each Mamluk between the pages of a giant book.  
  
The prince went to kick one of the shambling undead off of his sister. The two teens fought together while Aladdin bashed the heads off each Mamluk with a stick.  
  
"We can't hold them off forever," Jasmine grunted as she tore the arm of one and beat him with it, "Where are they all coming from?"  
  
Genie's mouth dropped open. "I don't know about that, but I do know where they're going." He pointed to the crowd of mamluks all pushing their way into Celeste's room.  
  
The heroes chased down the guards. The battle went on with the royal family beginning to feel the weariness of fighting set in. At last, Genie turned into a blender, piled all the mamluks inside, switched himself on. Everyone shut their eyes as body parts were flying out a window and into the local manure cart.  
  
Kal was the first one by Celeste's bedside when it was over. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing peacefully.  
  
Aladdin couldn't help laughing. "I can't believe it. She slept through the whole thing!"  
  
"Well, let's not wake her now," Jasmine told them and they were ushered from the room.  
The next day, there was no sign of the mamluks or the battle (other than a broken vase). The morning wore on and Celeste still slept. Finally, everyone grew impatient.  
  
"C'mon, monkey boy, let's go wake up sleeping beauty," Iago said.  
  
He and Abu entered Celeste's room. At first, the monkey just gently shook her. She didn't even stir. Several more attempts and nothing. At last, Iago tried shouting at her. Still, the girl didn't move. Kal entered when he heard the yells. He took his turn, trying to lift her out bed with plans of dropping her in the fountain outside. That was when he noticed what was in her bed. The blankets were lined with black sand.  
  
He called for his parents as he pulled her out of the sheets. Aladdin ran in and saw the sands creeping out of the bed in order to follow Celeste wherever she was taken.  
  
Meanwhile, Genie, turning himself into a broom from Fantasia, tried to sweep it all away. "What does it want her for?" he questioned aloud.  
  
Aladdin took the unconscious girl from his son in order to run with her out of the room. "More importantly, what does Mozenrath want with her?"  
  
"Al, time out. Mozenrath is dead, remember," Iago exclaimed, "Gone for good."  
  
"Mozenrath? Who's Mozenrath?" Mira questioned as she entered the room, "What wrong with Celeste?"  
  
Aladdin shifted the sleeping girl in his arms while the sands inched towards his feet. "We have to put her someplace where it can't get her. C'mon."  
  
He placed Celeste atop carpet and the group ran to a windowless room. Jasmine had followed and was already tending to the girl while her husband and son blocked any cracks in the door. The teenager seemed dead. The rise and fall of her chest was so subtle it appeared as if she wasn't breathing at all.  
  
"Maybe she'll wake up on her own," Jasmine tired to rationalize, "As soon as the sand is far enough away."  
  
"And maybe my parents will be good enough to tell Mira and I what this is all about? Who's Mozenrath? You told me the Mamluks were just mindless zombies! What do they have to do with this black sand?!" Kal was shouting by the last sentence.  
  
Al, Jasmine, and Genie all frowned at one another. Aladdin was the one to at last sigh and tell the story. "Mozenrath was a sorcerer we used to battle. He controlled the Mamluks and the Land of the Black Sand."  
  
Jasmine added, "The last time we saw him you were just an infant, Kal. He tried to take you."  
  
"So what happened to him?" Mira questioned.  
  
It was Genie's turn to speak. His tone was serious...well, as serious as Genie's tone could get. "Ooh, ol' Mozy was into some strong magic, but his powers were weak."  
  
"Plus, he was a real nutcase," Iago informed.  
  
Aladdin took over the story once more. "He wore a magical gauntlet that had been draining him of his life. His body was already dying. We managed to strike him with his own powers. When he was killed the Mamluks disappeared and we never were able to find the Land of the Black Sand again."  
  
"What happened to the gauntlet?" Kalil asked.  
  
"I hid it in the Cave of Wonders," Genie told them.  
  
Suddenly, Celeste screamed out, then was quiet again. Aladdin stood up in reaction. "We have to go the Cave of Wonders and find the gauntlet."  
  
"What if it isn't there?" Jasmine pointed out.  
  
"Then we will know that Mozenrath is alive." Aladdin swallowed hard at the thought, then went into command mode. "Kal, Mira, stay here. Iago and Abu can help you."  
  
"Why can't we come?" Kal asked, much to his own surprise.  
  
Jasmine placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "We need you here to look after Celeste. The Mamluks obviously want her."  
  
"Carpet, let's go," Aladdin called. The flying rug hovered as the sultan, his wife, and Genie all jumped aboard. Mira opened the door only long enough for them to soar out, then swiftly shut it again so the black sand couldn't enter.  
  
Aladdin hadn't been to the Cave since he had first found Genie's lamp and he wasn't sure what to expect. At least he didn't have to worry about Abu touching anything this time. Leaving him and Iago at home was more for their own protection than Celeste's.  
  
Genie summoned up the Cave, trying at first with a large explosion and a lot of mirrors. He called out nonsense words like "Walla Walla Washington" and "Kalamazoo". Nothing happened. The blue man snapped his fingers. "I know! I forgot to ring the doorbell." Jasmine and Aladdin glanced at each other as a rope appeared in the air. Genie pulled it. A sign fell down in front of him reading "Bell out of order. Please knock."  
  
"Huh, doesn't that just beat all," Genie commented.  
  
"Genie, we need to get down there soon, if you could," Aladdin coaxed in an attempt to be patient.  
  
"Right Al," Genie said, rubbing his chin. He transformed himself into the two pieces of the golden scarab and landed upon the sand dune. The ground shook and the sand parted.  
  
The massive blue tiger's head appeared and in the deep growl Aladdin could still remember from nearly twenty years before broke the awe Jasmine was in. "Who disturbs my slumber?"  
  
"Aladdin," the sultan replied.  
  
Jasmine also stated her name.  
  
Genie felt he had to show off. "Of course you remember me, ol' blue. We go way back don't we...like 10 thousand years!"  
  
The tiger eyed them, the two beams casting a yellow light over the heroes. Finally, his jaw dropped and the stairs appeared.  
  
Deep within the cave, Genie lead until they had passed through the treasure chamber and the room with the tall staircase where the lamp had once sat. In a tiny back room sat a chest. Aladdin opened it slowly, his hands shook a little. Jasmine held her breath.  
  
They lid fell backwards and the three glanced into the box. Laying in it was the lonely brown glove.  
  
Everyone let out a confused sigh. Aladdin closed the chest once more and lifted it in his arms.  
  
"Al, what are you doing?" Genie questioned.  
  
"This gauntlet might be the only way to wake Celeste up. We have to take it back to Agrabah with us."  
  
***************************  
  
Abu and Iago re-entered the storage room with a blanket and pillow for Celeste. They managed to avoid the sand, beating it back with a pillow every time they came or went.  
  
As Mira and Kal tried to lay Celeste out in a comfortable position, Abu began to squeak.  
  
Kal, understanding the monkey, grew concerned, "You are really worried about this Mozenrath guy aren't you. What exactly did he try to do to me when I was a baby?"  
  
Iago perched on Kal's shoulder, glancing down to check on Celeste while he answered, "He tried to use you for some spell that would give him back the life energy he was loosing. He almost killed you in the process."  
  
"I've never seen Dad so worried about one of his enemies before," Kal pointed out, "When he saw Celeste's bed I thought he was going to fall over."  
  
Iago frowned. "Even if Mozenrath is alive, what would he want Celeste for?"  
  
Mira was combing the last grains of sand from Celeste's hair. "Didn't grandfather say when he found her there was black sand everywhere? No signs of horses or footprints, just a creeping Black Sand."  
  
Her brother rose both of his eyebrows. "Are you suggesting that the Black Sand brought Celeste here?"  
  
The princess nodded. Almira's face turned grim as she faced Kalil. "And I think it's come to take her back."  
  
__________________  
TO BE CONTINUED IN STORY 10: Meant To Be  
Celeste is trapped and the only way out is through other people's dreams. 


End file.
